WPPD makes arrest in bomb threat cases

December 30, 2012

Hard work certainly does pay off as evidenced Thursday night by the Criminal Investigation Division of the West Point Police Department, which arrested one individual from Mississippi in connection to the recent bomb threats in the city.
After an intensive investigation by the WPPD, in cooperation with federal law enforcement agencies and several wireless service providers, police were able to nab a suspect, whose identity and place of incarceration is not being disclosed at this time.
West Point Chief of Police Tim Brinkley said disclosing the name of the suspect and the place where the subject is being held may hinder the sensitive investigation, which is ongoing, and the WPPD does expect to make more arrests in relation to the bomb threat incidents.
The suspect was charged with making a bomb threat, which Brinkley said carries a felony penalty. The bond for the accused was set at $10,000, but the bond could increase, Brinkley said, if more charges are brought against the individual.
“We have evidence to believe that the person incarcerated is responsible for the Walmart bomb threat, but we’re checking to see if this person may be linked to some of the other threats as well,” Brinkley said. “Making threats of this nature is very serious. Federal investigators are interested in all cases of this nature because the potential for mass casualties exists. Even when the threat turns out not to be a credible threat, as in no device was discovered, people who make these threats don’t understand that the penalty is about the same for making a threat as it is for committing the act.”
Throughout the investigation, police were able to unmask the phone number from which at least one of the bomb threats in the city were made.
“This individual is in a lot of trouble,” he said. “People who make bomb threats may think they’re simply playing a harmless prank, but they don’t consider the costs of resources and manpower let alone the inconvenience that an agency and community have to endure just to respond to a threat like that. I applaud the work of the investigators who worked diligently to make an arrest in this case, and we expect to reveal the identity of the perpetrator within the next few days.”